Easter: One Week Later

In the post Easter: Mary’s Transformation, the primary question was: “What was the immediate effect of the resurrection to the disciples?” Emphasized there was the transformation miracle brought about by the resurrection to Mary Magdalene on the morning of the resurrection. By looking at John 20:11-18, we highlighted that because of the resurrection, Mary experienced three changes: from mourning to joy, from being muddled to crystal clear clarity, and from being a magnet to a missionary. In this post, the question is: “What was the effect of the resurrection to the disciples one week after the resurrection day?” John 20:26-29 (ESV) will provide us the answers:

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

²⁸ Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” ²⁹ Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

As the story indicates, it has been “a week later” (20:26). Interesting here is that there seems to be nothing exciting going on with the disciples a week after resurrection day. In fact, there are striking similarities between what was happened happening on the evening of the first week of Easter (John 20:26-29) and what happened on the evening of the resurrection day (John 20:19-25). As John 20:19-25 (ESV) records,

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.” …

²⁴ Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. ²⁵ So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe” (John 20:19-25)

What are the similarities between these two narratives?

JOHN 20:19-25	JOHN 20:26-29
“On the evening of the first day of the week” (20:19)	“A week later” (20:26)
“with the doors locked” (20:19)	“doors were locked” (20:26)
Thomas’ doubt and unbelief (20:25)	“Stop doubting and believe” (20:27)
“Jesus came and stood among them” (20:19)	“Jesus came and stood among them” (20:26)
“He showed them his hands and side” (20:20)	“Reach out your hand and put it into my side” (20:27)
“Peace be with you!” (20:19, 21)	“Peace be with you!” (20:26)

Phobia (20:19, 26)

Both narratives indicate that the doors of the room the disciples were staying at were locked: “with the doors locked” (20:19) and “doors were locked” (20:26). In 20:19, the reason is explained as “for fear of the Jewish leaders.” It seems, therefore, that nothing has changed in the lives of the disciples even a week after the resurrection. They were still inside the same room, with the same locked doors, with the same fear. Jesus’ appearance to them a week earlier did no benefit to them. They were still plagued with fear. The contrast is unmistakable: Jesus’ tomb is open and empty but the house where the disciples were was locked and full. They left the empty tomb of Jesus (20:10) and entered another dark tomb.

This may sound familiar for some of us. Jesus is already risen from the dead. Like the disciples, we know this as a fact. But we are still in our homes, locked up inside for fear of death! We left the empty tomb to enter into our own seclusion and self-imprisonment. We left the tomb of resurrection to enter our room of death. We left the tomb of victory to enter our room of defeat.

Perplexity (20:25, 27)

The narratives also indicate that even after a week, in addition to fear, one of the disciples still did not believe the resurrection of Jesus. Thomas was quite clear: “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe” (20:25), which was why Jesus’ words to him was a stern: “Stop doubting and believe” (20:27). Thomas’ unbelief is particularly upsetting because he had no reason not to believe. He followed Jesus for several years, and he saw how Jesus raised several people from the dead: Lazarus (John 11:1-44), the son of the widow of Nain (Luke 7:11-15), and the daughter of Jairus (Luke 8:41-42, 49-55). For sure, Thomas had heard Jesus speak the words, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). But after all of these first-hand experiences of Thomas, he still did not believe the possibility of Jesus’ resurrection.

Thomas remained in his unbelief, doubt, and lack of faith even after being with Jesus for several years. In Thomas, we see the example of someone who remains unaffected by the truth of the gospel even when he belongs to the same group of disciples. Thomas remained in his unbelief even though he was surrounded by believers who passionately testified about the truth of the resurrection. He was surrounded by a cloud of witnesses (Heb 12:1). For whatever reasons, he chose not to believe. He chose not to be affected. He chose to persist in his lack of faith.

In fairness to Thomas, he was not alone in his unbelief. In fact, Mark 16:14 says, Jesus “appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen.” All the disciples were guilty. Quite interestingly, Jesus rebuked the disciples for their lack of faith throughout His time with them. In the gospel of Matthew, for example, Jesus rebuked the disciples on this matter five times, saying “O you of little faith” (6:30; 8:26; 14:31; 16:8; 17:20).

Presence (20:19, 26)

Those of us who are parents know very well how to be frustrated with our children who do not seem to know how to listen and obey. My wife is a lot stricter than me at home. At home, I am the good cop and she’s the bad cop. But even though she can yell at Heloise, our daughter can still not listen to her mom’s instructions. She can tell her to put her toys in the toy basket, only to see the toys still scattered on the floor after having already showered. She would be furious, and would actually pack all of her toys and hide them. Finding something undone and unchanged after so many attempts to change things is discouraging and infuriating. I could only imagine Jesus’ frustrations when He saw the disciples still unchanged. In John 20:19-21, on the evening of the first day, He already gave them peace. He already forgave them. He already showed Himself to them so that they would believe and be strengthened. And yet Jesus came one week later only to hind them to have reverted to their old fears and doubts.

Intriguingly, if the circumstances of the disciples were similar in the week after resurrection day, Jesus’ approach to the disciples was also similar to His first appearance to them: “Jesus came and stood among them” (20:19, 26). In short, He made Himself available to them again. Jesus’ patience is actually noteworthy. In the Garden of Gethsemane, the night before He died, Jesus prompted the disciples to pray, but when He returned from praying, He found them sleeping. But He did not give up and prompted them to pray again, but the result was the same as last time: He found them sleeping. Then this cycle happened again and for the third time. Jesus did not give up on His disciples. The weakness of the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane is displayed again after the resurrection, because Jesus found His disciples again in their weaknesses. Like in the Garden of Gethsemane, He came to the disciples and found them in the same state He found them last time.

The statement is very simple: “Jesus came and stood among them” (20:19, 26), but this sentence highlights Jesus’ act of giving the disciples another chance to experience renewal and restoration. God is a God of second chances, or of many chances. Jesus came again. The reality for many of us is that we need the visitations of God in our lives many times before we are truly transformed! This is true in the lives of the disciples. Actually, after Jesus appeared to the disciples in John 20:26-29, He appeared again to them a third time John 21:1-14. Here, when Jesus appeared, what were the disciples doing? They went back to being fishermen instead of being fishers of men (cf Matt 4:19; Mark 1:17; Luke 5:10). But Jesus appeared to them over and over again, giving them the opportunity to believe and be transformed: “He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3).

Peace (20:19, 21, 26)

What happened when Jesus came and stood among the disciples? Both narratives say that Jesus’ first words to them were “Peace be with you” (20:19, 21, 26). Jesus appeared to them not with words of fiery condemnation or words of disapproval or words of exasperated grievances. No. Jesus’ words to the stiff-necked, stubborn, dull disciples were of peace. Jesus appeared to His disciples not to make them feel guilty. In fact He knew that His mere presence would make them feel guilty and ashamed, so His first words contained a message of peace.

Jesus comes to His broken, ashamed, guilty disciples to restore them. In fact, we learn through the gospels that the succeeding appearances of Jesus to the disciples were moments where He lavished grace upon them: He forgave and reinstated Peter (John 21:15-19), commissioned the disciples (Matt 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-20), and promised the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8). God’s grace is amazing!

There is something profound in these visitations of Jesus Christ. He is teaching us that He comes precisely for those who are plagued by fear. He comes precisely for those who are filled with doubt. He comes precisely to those who are broken and shattered. He comes precisely to those who are suffering. He comes precisely to those who are in need of forgiveness and peace. He comes to those who are tortured by shame and guilt. He comes to those who have heavy burdens. He comes to those who are hopeless. Even in the resurrection, Jesus’ words ring true: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:31-32, NIV).

Conclusions

Jesus was risen from the dead for us. But like the disciples, it is possible that the resurrection of Jesus has not yet affected our lives or that the effect of the resurrection in our lives was only momentary. Maybe we are still living in fear of death. Maybe we are still in doubt. The good news for us is that the transforming power of the resurrection is not only available on Easter Sunday. Jesus comes in the lives of people who have failed in their relationship with God. Jesus comes to give us peace. Jesus comes to restore us. This is His grace: He gives us a lot of chances until we get it. He gives us chances until we finally believe. He gives us chances until we are freed from fear. He gives us a lot of chances until we have peace.